Tag: art

In 2009 I fell in love with a ring. Not just any ring… THE ring. The Yves Saint Laurent “Arty” ring.

I was working at AllSaints HQ at the time and I generally had my head between the sheets of Vogue at every opportunity. THE ring was everywhere I turned. All stunning and gold and stunning… and gold. It also came with a hefty pricetag. Not a pricetag I could have justified on a ring, on my wage; and irregardless, said-wage was spent on endless Friday’s at the Golden Heart followed by falafel wrap en route to our apartment on Regent’s Canal (this all seems like such a lifetime ago, it’s quite nice to reminisce!)

My lust for The ring grew to another level when I accompanied a friend to the YSL store on Bond Street to ACTUALLY try on The ring for his then girlfriend… he was buying her it for Christmas. Which was lovely. I was green with envy; as you can imagine! Talk about rubbing salt into thine wounds!

Years passed and I always said, “When I pass my driving test, The ring will be mine! I will buy it as an extra special treat for my deserved achievements”. We lived in London at the time – and I was still yet to even think about booking driving lessons, never-mind pass my test!

Several more years pass and “OH MY GOD, THEY’VE DISCONTINUED THE RING”.

True story. The ring was taken out of production. It was no more. It began disappearing from all the usual retail websites. Devastated doesn’t cut it. I NEEDED The ring.

The driving lessons began back in February 2013. A mere 10 years after I SHOULD have started them, like everyone else around me. Better late than never… eh? The ring became hot topic once more. The ring spurred me on to take my first test… and the second test… and the third test… and my……… (you get the picture). I would hunt The ring down when I’d passed my test. The ring would be mine!

My birthday this year came and we went to the City of Bath for a lovely overnight trip. Eli was good as gold and I had a really lovely birthday with my little family. I didn’t have presents. That didn’t matter, I had my little family and life is for living and memories are to be made.

A few weeks ago the game changed. Mr Memoirs was fussing about upstairs. He’d been shifty about a parcel that had arrived that said “PRIVATE DOCUMENTS” on the front. I’d obviously What’s App’ed my nearest and dearest about the parcel; who all conclusively suggested that the parcel contained house deeds, or marriage documents (are they even a thing?!). I knew it wouldn’t be either, because we’re nowhere near to reaching our dream abode and we’re nowhere near to marriage (even after a decade of adventures together!).

Mr Memoirs asked for me to bring Mr Eli upstairs for his bath… nothing out of the ordinary there.

Until I went into the bedroom. On the bed was a card and a box. The card was a Belle and Boo belated birthday card. The box was a jewellery box… and inside was… THE RING.

A belated birthday gift from my boy’s. I was stunned. I was completely gobsmacked once more at the lengths Mr Memoirs does go. And I am so so lucky!

Goodness knows how Mr Memoirs sourced it. But my god, he did good! It fits perfectly. It shines perfectly. It’s a perfect piece of art. It’s perfect. I am in love.

“Shy bairns get nowt”. For those who don’t understand what this means… I shall explain! This well known phrase (an overused phrase by oneself!) translates to: a shy person doesn’t get anything without asking for it.

I absolutely LOVE this mug. My dear friend Christie bought me it for my birthday this year, but due to Royal Mail being HORRENDOUS the birthday gift not only arrived smashed to smithereens but as we were out at time, it was put into a food caddy that was FULL of food at the time. (I honestly don’t know where to begin with that one!).

A few weeks ago, we went back to Newcastle for the first time in 6 years, where we had once lived for 4 years, to visit our lovely friends Christie (who sent me the mug!) and Adam. Our Motherland is a 1 hour drive from Newcastle, so we used a lot of Geordie lingo to begin with, but living in Newcastle gave me a proper tongue from the Toon! This mug is perfect for me and I couldn’t wait to get it replaced!

I managed to get the mug back Daaaaaahn Safff in one piece, I’m hoping it remains the case!

Wot Ma Like is an ingenius brand from husband and wife team, Jo & Nick Burrows, who set up the Geordie Mug company initially, before expanding the dialects to include accents such as Yorkshire, Scouse and Manc to name but a few. Their items are definitely one-of-a-kind and make such great gifts and treats for your home. We’ll definitely be purchasing more items for ourselves and others! I do love to give Independant, small and local brands a shout out – so if you’re a new/small/local business, please do get in touch!

You can find my “Shy bairns get nowt” mug as well as other Geordie products on their website: wotmalike.co.uk and you can follow them on Twitter @wotmalike

We were walking back from an afternoon at the local park. Eli was obsessed with the big boat, that is on springs, kind of bouncy-see-saw-thing. It doesn’t do an awful lot, but it definitely captured Eli’s imagination.

FINALLY got this beautiful Clare Nicholson print up in Eli’s room today; after having it resting against the wall for months! (It did look nice against the wall to be fair… looks much better hung though!)

London Fashion Week design duo Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff are famed for their rebellious take on fashion. This second collaboration with Amazon Fashion is an exclusive collection of four distinctive scarves, in the spirit of the designers’ main catwalk collections.

I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to get involved with this collaboration as I’d very much enjoyed their initial offering with Amazon – and we all know how Meadham Kirchhoff flies out of Topshop!

My absolute favourite scarf from this collection is ‘PEARLS’. The print is so pretty, and of course, I love all things gold. I really like how it’s been styled on the model too (take a look at all the below photos for some unique scarf styling!).

Each silk scarf is pretty massive and measures 120cm x 120cm! So LOTS of value for the £75.00 price tag. These scarves are all limited edition and can only be purchased from Amazon Fashion, here: MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF FOR AMAZON FASHION. PLUS, if you’re UK based you already qualify for FREE delivery – BOOM!

“The Ballerina scarf features the tiny ballerina motif from our Autumn/Winter ’13 collection in a fresh new colourway. The artwork originates from a vintage silk scarf”.Click here to purchase the BALLERINA scarf.

Which is your favourite scarf? And are there any different ways you’d style any of these scarves?

MM.

NB: I was sent the Meadham Kirchhoff x Amazon ‘PEARL’ scarf, for free, for the purposes of this review. All opinions in this review are my own and are 100% honest.

We’re mad on Christmas, always have been – always will be. I think most people are surprised our tree and decorations aren’t up yet to be honest… but we’re traditionalists since Mr Eli arrived, getting a real tree again this year, on 1st December.

Anyway, I digress. We had decided last year, that we would buy Mr Eli a Christmas book every year; that we would sit and read on Christmas Eve. Last year we went classic with The Night Before Christmas, by Clement. C. Moore. This Christmas Eve, we’ll be reading our amazingly beautiful “and the Very Merry Christmas” book by Belle & Boo creator, Mandy Sutcliffe.

I’d had this book on my ‘wish list’ since it was announced on pre-order. I was TOO excited. So imagine my absolute joy at opening the book and seeing the below specially signed copy from Mandy herself.

I’ve had a very quick flick through the first few pages, but do not want to look further – I don’t want to spoil our Christmas Eve read!

But from what I’ve seen, I can assure you, this is a very pretty book that will make just the perfect Christmas present for any little one! We really cannot wait to read this one.

Do you have any Christmas traditions you and your family create year-on-year?

I LOVE finding new Childrenswear brands. Hello Apparel has been on my radar for a little while – I just haven’t gotten round to writing up my Brand In Focus for them!

Hello Merch is an independent company started in 2008 by Sam Means as an outlet for artists to manufacture and sell merchandise online and on tour, without giving up their rights by signing major label-style merch contracts. Hello Apparel is available for Adults as well as kids; although, I think the kids range is much cooler! ;o

Unfortunately, Hello Merch is just available for import at the minute. But the ever so lucky Southwood Stores will be the ONLY UK stockist very, very soon! So keep your eyes peeled! I actually cannot wait!

We’re still yet to properly decorate and sort out Mr Eli’s stomping ground, otherwise known as his quarters bedroom. But that doesn’t stop me trawling the internet for neat finds like this one!

I just LOVE this 50’s inspired print by Ingela P Arrhenius. Mr Eli is a Leo the Lion himself, so I thought this would be quite fitting for his bedroom. (Not that we’re a family of the zodiac I might add!).

For those who don’t know, I have a penchant for old interiors – especially from the 70s. I had been particularly fond of a certain 70s print (originally a 1958 painting) by Vernon Ward, entitled “Harmony of Spring”, since we first set eyes upon it back in 2006. I’d searched and searched vintage shops, car boot sales and antique fairs for years and years and not ever come across it. I’d been recently trying to get hold of “The Chinese Lady” by Vladimir Tretchikoff on eBay and low-and-behold “The Harmony of Spring” came up along my search. Why had I never looked on eBay for it before?!

As it happens, it’s quite a popular print. A new listing of the print was coming up every few weeks, but they were either going for far too much money, it would be local collection only or I would miss the listing! I almost gave up. I then found one that was ending within a few days, no bids, it was local pick-up in Leeds. I sent a message to the seller and see if they would be happy for a courier to take the item – obviously at my cost. This is where I praise MyHermes like no other delivery company! I LOVE them! They’re a fantastic courier, dramatically cheaper than Royal Mail/Parcel Force and are so convenient! You can drop your parcel off at a designated MyHermes drop/collect point or the courier can come directly to you and collect the parcel from you. I use them frequently for sending bulky or heavy items. Amazing.

Anyway, I digress. The chap who was selling the print was so so lovely and agreed to help get the print to me, with MyHermes, should I win. The auction was ending REALLY early on a Saturday morning, of course I was up with Eli. I could not believe my luck when I won! And for a ridiculously low price too. It’s stunning in real life, quite a large framed print; originally framed at Boots!

I’m in love with this print. Hope you like it too, here are some more photos. I WILL share more shots of our house when we’re more settled – still in a bit of upheaval post-move at the end of July!

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